My husband Matt and I moved to Palo Alto from the East Coast about four years ago. We bought the only house in our price range in one weekend, and have been trying to understand the real estate market and our place in it ever since. We met Zach at an open house in Los Altos and we were immediately impressed by his approach. He managed to be enthusiastic without being overly aggressive, but was also candid and realistic about the house. This was so refreshing to us and stood in sharp contrast to most realtors we have met, who will say anything they think you want to hear without listening to what you say! He asked us about where we were living, and told us he was born and raised in Palo Alto. I’m not sure he even mentioned his Palo Alto listing. He was extremely professional, yet personable.
This positive impression had direct bearing on our decision to purchase his listing in Professorville within weeks of our first meeting. We decided we couldn’t ask our children to change schools and we should stay in Palo Alto. That led to our driving by Zach’s listing, which was then a whole in the ground surrounded by a chain link fence with a for sale sign. I realized I had driven by it before and completely dismissed it. What an odd situation, I thought. How do you possibly know what you are getting? Pay how much for essentially a drawing and a promise? But because it was Zach’s listing, we opened our minds to it and began talking to him. We didn’t even think of bringing another agent in to represent us separately. We felt Zach should be our agent because we wouldn’t have been pursuing it without his involvement.
Zach knew just how to help us make this important decision. He arranged meeting, provided plans and offered some creative solutions. I think he served us well, and the sellers as well. He provided the seller with a serious buyer with the ability and interest to follow through. He correctly gauged us though we had been looking for years. He brought us along and made us feel comfortable with the situation without our ever feeling manipulated.
Additionally, we are having Zach represent us in the sale of our home in Old Palo Alto, a home with some drawbacks as well as some real assets, both tangible and intangible. Other realtors have trooped through at various points, clutching papers and talking in terms of square feet alone. I often felt they were employing tactics, and could almost feel them turning my house into their college tuition payments or retirement accounts. While Zach’s proposed numbers did not vary significantly from theirs, his attitude and point of view were much different. He really “saw” the house and was excited by it. I think his relative youth is actually an asset in a number of ways, and the most important one is that he can see a house the way a real buyer would see it. He is also energetic and accessible. This is coupled with his extensive knowledge of Palo Alto, which seems like a town of micro-micro markets. He knows the nuances of every block, particularly in Professorville and Old Palo Alto. I think he also has great instincts. I am happy we happened on him that day, and confident in recommending him.
